New Delhi / Pragya removed from Parliament's defence panel after 'Godse deshbakht' remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned its controversial MP Pragya Thakur’s for her remarks on Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, and barred her from attending the regular meeting for party MPs for the rest of the winter session, BJP working president JP Nadda has said, according to news agency ANI.

Pragya Thakur is also being pulled out from the parliamentary panel on defence.

“Her statement yesterday in the parliament is condemnable. The BJP never supports such statement or ideology,” BJP working president JP Nadda told ANI on Thursday morning. Nadda’s statement implies that the party has rejected her claim that she wasn’t referring to Godse when she made the “deshbhakt” or patriot comment in Lok Sabha.

Her remark had led to an immediate uproar in the House. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla expunged her remarks from the House records but it did not help stop the barrage of criticism from political parties and on social media.

It spilled over to the Lok Sabha on Thursday morning when the Congress sought action against her. But Om Birla would have none of it, pointing out that since her statement was not on record, it couldn’t be discussed.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sought to blunt the opposition attacks, emphasising that the BJP and the government firmly rejected and condemned the thinking that Godse could be a patriot. “Not just the comment, we don’t even tolerate such a thought,” he said.

Rajnath Singh said Mahatma Gandhi remained an ideal and inspiration for everyone in the country.

This is the second time that Pragya Thakur has embarrassed the party by referring the Mahatma’s assassin as a patriot. In the run to the national elections, Pragya Thakur had said “Nathuram Godse was a ‘deshbhakt’ (patriot), is a ‘deshbhakt’ and people consider him as a ‘deshbhakt’.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t take her remarks lightly. Within a few days, in a TV interview, Modi underlined that the kind of a language she used could not be tolerated in a civilised society. “She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her,” PM Modi had said.

When Pragya Thakur was seen to cross the line again yesterday, the opposition recalled this strong statement from the prime minister the last time to demand what action would be taken against her.

The BJP’s move to drop her from the consultative committee of MPs on defence comes against this background.

“We have decided that Pragya Singh Thakur will be removed from the consultative committee of defence, and in this session she will not be allowed to participate in the parliamentary party meetings,” Nadda told ANI.